Antioxidant and antimicrobial medicinal plants from Iran

The Objective of this research was determination of antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of different plants of the families lamiaceae including several salvia species and some plants of the family Compositae e.g. Onopordon, Centaurea from Iran. The radical scavenging activities of the above-mentioned plants were measured spectrophotometrically using DPPH (2, 2 dipheny-pycryl-hydrazyl). The antimicrobial tests were performed on an acetone extract of the plant material. The microorganisms applied for the bioassays were Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli as Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria respectively. The fungi were Cladesporium herbarum and Fusarium oxysporum. Our research on about 50 different plants showed Salvia choloroleucca, Salvia hypoleuca, and Salvia sahandica as the most potent antimicrobial plants. Our assays to separate the active constituents are continuing by TLC bioautography. We have determined different active plants amongst several candidates and studied them for further purification and identification by bioassay guided fractionation and purification using different chromatographic and spectroscopic methods including HPLC, 1D and 2D-NMR in the phytochemistry department of our institute